Tag Archives: holiday

It starts when we’re “house hunting.” Or we’re “buying a new house.” But everything changes the minute we move in. It’s no longer a collection of lumber and shingles, plumbing and wire; floors and finishes. Once we move in, we give the house a soul. It becomes “home.” That’s why we “hunt for a house,” but always “head for home.”

All of the emotions and memories that bind families together radiate from the cornerstone of our lives: from our homes.

So, when all of the 90,000 families who live in M/I Homes gather to count their blessings, we count each one of them as a blessing of our own. We are eternally grateful that our calling is to create such a profound part of people’s lives.

M/I Homes DFW Partnered with our local CitySquare program to collect coats to help former foster children stay warm this season.

Over the past few weeks, M/I Homes of Dallas Fort Worth employees, vendors, and trade partners have worked together to gather children and adult size coats to benefit those involved with the CitySquare Program. CitySquare is a local non-profit organization that helps individuals transitioning out of foster care and onto their own feet, with many going into temporary housing.

Together we collected more than 100 coats and are thankful to have had the opportunity to have made a contribution!

M/I Homes Collecting Coats for City Square

M/I Homes DFW has initiated a Community Crew team to continue to help out with other service opportunities throughout the holiday season. Our next volunteering opportunity will be in December helping to bag food and toys for another local non-profit organization, “Christmas for Children.”

As we celebrate the end of another year, we look ahead to an even better and brighter New Year. We may have a variety of hopes for the upcoming year but one wish we can all agree on is that of happiness. And what is a great source of happiness in our daily lives? Our home.

Our home gives us a sense of comfort at the end of the day. Our home is where we feel at peace and can relax with our loved ones. We share endless laughter, delicious meals, and priceless memories. Our home is where we are happiest.

Sometimes when you’re wrapping gifts, it’s fun to use wrapping paper that actually isn’t “technically” wrapping paper! If you’re in a hurry, want to be creative or simply just forgot to pick up wrapping paper at the store, there are always great things around your home that can be used instead.

Can’t think of any ideas? Don’t worry, here are some of our favorite gift wrapping ideas.

Old Maps

Haven’t been using the maps in your car? Maps make great wrapping paper. Maybe there is a special city that reminds you of the person you’re gifting? Call it out when you’re wrapping your gift to make it even more special!

Cookbook Recipes

Many of us have someone among our family and friends that absolutely loves to cook. How fun would it be to give them a gift completely wrapped in recipes from your favorite cookbooks? Careful – they may be so busy reading the recipes that they forget to open the gift.

Plain White Paper

Who says your wrapping needs to be colorful? For kids, the fun might be making their own wrapping paper. Wrap their gift in all white paper and ask them to create their own wrapping paper before opening their gift! Attach crayons to make it fun and easy for them to do!

Love music?

Sheet music makes really fun wrapping paper and looks really classy when giving it as a gift! If you’re really lucky and happen to have Holiday sheet music lying around, pick out your favorite songs to wrap your gifts in.

Word Search Paper

Utilize word search paper as your wrapping paper and attach a red marker to the package so they can start searching. Want to make it even more fun? Tell those that you’re gifting that they have to find a certain word before they can open their gift! You could even time them!

Brown Bags

Reuse, Recycle! Most likely you’re doing some shopping at grocery stores during the holidays. Ask for paper instead of plastic and use those bags as your wrapping paper. Want to add a personal touch? Use a sharpie to draw your bows and gift tags instead of using real ones!

If you’re like us, you’re probably still looking for that perfect present for someone (or, okay, a lot of someones) on your holiday list. There’s always that person who seems to have everything, and it can be a real challenge to find him (or her) a suitable present.

While we can’t help with everyone you need to buy for, we did put together a list of some gift-giving ideas for the at-home workaholics on your list. We scoured the Internet to find the most unique – and essential – home office accessories, sure to make your hardest-working friends and family members smile. Check it out below:

1. Pivot Power Flexible Surge Protector
Although you may have been putting it off, the Pivot Power Flexible Surge Protector ($29.99) has been attending its yoga classes. One of the best-selling products on Quirky, it’s by far the most bendable power strip we’ve come across. While it can’t quite pull off a King Pigeon or Peacock pose, it’s flexible enough to wrap around a desk leg – each outlet can be bent to fit exactly where your recipient needs it, whether it’s to plug in an iPhone charger or a space heater.

2. Nova Blue Polo Desk Chair
Forget sitting in comfort. Sit in style with the Nova Blue Polo Desk Chair ($199). Designed at a peak of American culture in the 1970s, this chair is retro, chic and everything cool. Break out the disco ball and LPs, and your recipient will be all set to dance the day away while they work in this chair. Oh, as for comfort? Reviewers claim that the chair is comfortable and ergonomically sound – even though it was designed well before ergonomics was a trend.

3. Essey Bin Bin Waste Basket
What better place to throw crumpled scrap paper away than into a trash can that looks like crumpled paper itself? That’s why we love the Essey Bin Bin Waste Basket ($55), designed by John Brauer. The modern-looking waste basket is attractive and tongue-in-cheek. It also comes in red and black, but stick with white to make the joke really stick.

If your recipient prefers to use legal pads instead of normal white paper, pair this waste basket with a Witty Crumpled Legal Paperweight ($28.34). Just be sure you don’t mix the paperweight actual crumpled yellow paper before you wrap it up.

4. USB Gloves
Help keep your hardworking giftee’s fingers nimble with a pair of USB Gloves ($11.98). These gloves plug into a laptop’s USB port, and keep users’ hands warm with infrared light. They don’t have fingertips, so you can still type. Whether your recipient keeps his home office at a cool 60 degrees or she just likes to work outside, these hand-warming gloves will be a welcome and unexpected gift. We think these officially qualify as a warm-and-fuzzy high-tech gadget.

5. Mini File Cabinet
What do you do with a filing cabinet that measures only 6.5” tall? No, this isn’t some sort of eco-fiendly movement in the filing industry. The Mini File Cabinet ($12.99) is specifically designed for business cards. Featuring two tiny drawers, this cabinet should provide plenty of space for all of your recipient’s business cards.

And although these files are almost twice the size of the mini cabinet, we couldn’t resist including these Knock Knock File Folders ($11.35 and $15.63) as a gag gift. There are always some documents that are just asking to go under “To File: By Somebody Else.”

With more than 30 million people working from home in the United States, there’s bound to be someone on your list with a home office. We hope a few of these ideas will help you find something the workaholic on your list just has to have.